Alejandro Elizondo v. Illinois Department of Corrections

OPINION

Steffen, J.

This matter comes before this Court on complaint No. 03-CC-3560 filed by ALEJANDRO ELIZONDO against the STATE OF ILLINOIS, Department of Corrections for negligence that caused the injuries he sustained while working in an institutional job at the East Moline Correctional Center.

It is a claim in tort under the provisions of Section 8(d) of the Illinois Court of Claims Act.

Claimant's complaint alleges that on July 23, 2002, the Illinois Department of Corrections breached its duty to provide safe working conditions and adequate medical care for individuals in custody by forcing him to perform the very dangerous job of installing razor wire along the [*160] institution's fence without training, safety precautions, safety gear or protective clothing; and after suffering a severe injury failing to provide him with the ordinary and reasonable care needed to preserve his health by subjecting him to treatment that violated the doctor's orders and that could have caused complications to his injury and, which caused Claimant additional pain and suffering.

Claimant comes to the court pro se.

A trial was held on February 15, 2008.

DAMAGES

Claimant Elizondo is seeking damages in the amount of $25,000.

APPLICABLE LAW

Respondent owes a duty to exercise ordinary and reasonable care for

the preservation of a prisoner's health.

Dezort v. Village of Hinsdale (1976), 35

Ill.App.3d 703, 342 N.E.2d 468.

The Court of Claims has held that the State of

Illinois owes a duty to inmates of its penal institutions to provide them with

safe conditions under which to perform the assigned work.

Cooper v. State

(1995), 48 Ill.Ct.Cl. 118.

STIPULATIONS

Respondent stipulated to the fact that the injury occurred while the Respondent was incarcerated, that Claimant severed the radial artery, and that he was taken out to the local hospital for treatment.

Respondent also stipulated that Claimant remained under a doctor's care at the Correctional facility for over two months after the accident.

FINDINGS OF FACT

[*161] On the day of the accident, Claimant was incarcerated at the East Moline

Correctional Center and participated in its minimum security work camp.

There he

was assigned to work on a daily basis on a variety of tasks, including housekeeping,

lawn crew, and shower crew.

Each morning, an officer on duty would assign

inmates to areas of work and a guard would accompany the inmates as they

performed their assignments.

The guards would not in any way direct or assist the

inmates with any of the assignments.

Sometimes inmates were assigned to help

employees of the Department of Corrections perform specific jobs such as shoveling

snow, salting sidewalks, removing garbage, and cutting and raking grass.

On July 23, 2002, Claimant was assigned to work the grounds with a group of

other inmates.

When they had finished the assigned work, all but two of the

inmates were dismissed.

Although DOC's departmental report states that Claimant

and another inmate "volunteered" to string wire on a fence, Claimant alleges that

they were ordered by a civilian employee to do so.

They were then escorted by the

guards to the 16 foot fence near the administrative building and given a box of wire

to string from one end of the fence to another, approximately 50 feet.

The inmates

were told to climb to the top of the fence in a stationary scaffold that had been set

up for the task.

The wire was razor wire, a wire that has razor sharp blades every

couple of inches and is commonly used in prisons to deter escapes.

The wire was

tightly coiled in a box.

Claimant testified that they did not "volunteer" for the job, as

claimed by DOC.

Claimant was given no supervision by anyone who knew how to

install razor wire.

Claimant stated that the only safety gear that they were provided

to perform this task were gloves.

[*162] Twenty minutes into the job, having crimped down about five to seven feet of the wire, a part of the coil caught another part and broke loose, causing a razor to strike Claimant's left wrist which immediately bled severely.

The other inmate took off his shirt, wrapped it around Claimant's arm, and pulled the wire out of Claimant's arm.

Bleeding profusely and feeling dizzy, Claimant was carried down the scaffold by the other inmate.

Once on the ground, the guards had him walk to the medical unit where the doctor applied something to stop the bleeding and called an outside ambulance to transport Claimant to Alini Hospital.

Alini Hospital medical records indicate that Claimant suffered a laceration of the radial artery.

Claimant

was given a couple of stitches and sent back to the medical unit at East Moline to be kept for observation under the care of the correctional center's medical director.

The medical record indicates that the doctor at Alini Hospital ordered that Claimant "keep his left hand elevated about the level of the heart" and "to rest arm" until released by the correctional center's medical director.

The medical director kept Claimant in the medical unit under observation overnight and allowed him to go back to his dorm on July 24, 2002, requesting that he come back to the medical unit as needed.

The medical director did not release Claimant from his care until sometime after August 15, 2002, when Claimant was able to resume light work duty.

When Claimant reached his dorm, he was informed that all of his belongings had been packed and taken to storage.

Instead of assisting Claimant with moving his belongings back to the dorm, Claimant was told to take care of it himself.

The

belongings included a big plastic box, approximately 4 feet X 2.5 feet, that contained Claimant's clothing and personal belongings; a smaller but heavier box with legal [*163] papers, books, and magazines; a fan; and a small television.

Once at the storage facility, which was down a hill from the dorm, Claimant again asked for assistance.

He was told that the best they could do was to provide him a cart, as verified by the DOC departmental report.

Feeling dizzy and scared that he would pass out or reopen his wound, Claimant slowly loaded half of his belongings onto the cart and pulled the cart with his right arm up the hill toward his dorm.

As he got close to the dorm, an inmate working the grounds saw him struggling and assisted with the cart and unloading.

Feeling week and tired, Claimant collapsed onto his bunk, while other inmates retrieved the remainder of his things.

The Correctional Center's medical records on Claimant indicate that on July 26, 2002, the medical director issued a written restriction slip indicating "no lifting with left hand due to injury" and that on August 1, 2002, the medical director again issued another restriction ordering "light work with left hand, due to injury."

Claimant testified that for a few days after the injury he felt a tingling sensation in his hand.

He did not work for ten days and was later assigned to shower duty, which he considers light duty.

Claimant testified that the tingling in his hand subsided, but that he developed a "knot" at the place of the wound, which was tender and caused him pain when touched.

He testified that the doctor described to him that the "knot" was likely a clot that would go away with time.

Claimant reported that when he was released from the Correctional Center in 2004, he still had the "knot" in his arm and felt tenderness at the sight of the wound.

CONCLUSION

[*164] The State owes a duty to provide inmates with safe conditions by which to perform assigned work, and a duty to exercise ordinary care for the preservation of a prisoner's health.

Claimant, as a convict, was required to take orders and to carry them out.

To refuse to do so could subject him to solitary confinement and the forfeiture of privileges, including prompt consideration for his parole.

Therefore, Claimant could not act independently as people outside a penitentiary do.

On July

23, 2002, Claimant was ordered to install razor wire on a 50 foot fence, which was 16 feet high.

Installing razor wire is an inherently dangerous job, capable of causing great injury.

The Claimant was injured when the wire came in contact with his arm, cutting his radial artery.

The Court finds that DOC breached its duty to provide Claimant with safe conditions under which to perform the assigned work by failing to provide Claimant with any training and failing to provide Claimant with adequate protective gear.

The State's negligence was the proximate cause of Claimant's injury.

It is further found that Claimant did not have the freedom of choice inherent in the doctrine of assumed risk or contributory negligence.

In addition, the State owes a duty to exercise ordinary and reasonable care for the preservation of a prisoner's health.

Despite the fact that the Claimant had suffered an injury on July 23, 2002, the State disregarded the doctor's orders by forcing Claimant to retrieve his own belongings without offering any help, actually forcing claimant to put stress on his injured arm, and causing him undue pain and suffering and a potential for complicating his injury.

For the foregoing reasons, the Court finds that this claim should be granted.

[*165] The Court also finds that $10,000.00 is the appropriate amount of damages for this claim.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Claimant's claim is granted.

He is awarded $10,000 in total damages.